Coin-handling machine.



No. 802,550. PATENTED OCT. 24, 1905. G. S. BATDORF 6; T. W. FOWLER.

COIN HANDLING MACHINE. Arrmouron mum mum, 1904. RENEWED APR.18.1906.

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WTITNESSES: INVENTORS galozorf Mayday, famflldtafiwler K Q7 4274 f M MW.I. aim co. mmmmnmm vmmnm n c.

'Nm 802,550. PATENTED OCT. 24,1905. 0. S. BATDORF & T. W. FOWLER.

COIN HANDLING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR.10,1904. RENEWED APR.18.1905.

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INVENTORS I rlesJTBaI'cZwy' remMmr/Zw [er -PATENI UFFIQE JHARLES S.BATUORF, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, AND THOMAS W ALTER FOWLER, OFWASHINO'ITON, DlSlRIIC'l OF COLUMBIA, ASSlG-NORS, BY DIRECT AND M'ESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO PA'lENT CUSTODIAN COMPANY,

A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

COIN-"HANDLING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24:, 1905.

11') (Lil whom, it 717,04 concern- Be it known that we, CnARLEs S. BAT-DORF, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, State of New York,and THOMAS WVALTER FowLER, residing at Washington, in the District ofColumbia, citizens of the United States, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Coin-Handling Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

Our invention relates to new and useful improvements in machines forhandling coins, and particularly to the machines of the type employingan inspection-table or a tabular surface upon which the coins aredeposited and individually handled and inspected for counterfeit andmutilated specimens before said coins are allowed to pass into the conductor or runway leading to the machine which. counts the coins and thenassembles them in columns or bunches containing a predetermined numberof coins of the same size and transfers the column or bunch to awrapping mechanism which. applies a flexi- 2 5 ble wrapper or envelopthereto or where the coins after being counted are distributed ordelivered to appropriate bags or other receptacles appropriately placedto receive the same in predetermined or other quantities.

It has not heretofore seemed possible to successfully combine with thecounting-ma chine an assorting mechanism wherein miseellancous coins canbe separated from a mass and advanced successively and dis- 3 5 tributedand then passed to the machine to be operated upon thereby and counted,because the known assorting-machines, as far as we are aware, all havetheir distributingchutes connecting directly with. the coin con- 4oductor or runway and the coins emerging.

from the said chutes pass directly into the machine in rapid successionwithout an opportunity being given for observing the character of thecoins entering the machines. Therefore counterfeit, plugged, andmutilated specimens and even pieces of lead, metal, and other disks oflittle or no value might be sent into the machine and be counted andassembled with good coins without difficulty, and their presence insealed packages would not be ascertained until the package is broken foruse, when it might be difficult to learn the source from whence came thespurious specimen. As the machines are designed to operate upon coins,(money) the importance of correctness in the count of the package andthe ascertainment of the exact value of the contents of said packagewill be manifest.

The ins acction-table from which the coins are distri uted to themachine has been found of great convenience in the handling of coins,because of the facility with which it enables the operator to handle thecoins which lie flat thereon and inspect and feel each coin as the sameis slid over the glass or other smooth surface of the table. Because ofthis possible manipulation of the coins separately following closely thehand movement usually adopted by banks and other depositories of moneyfor counting coins, the facility for detecting mutilated, bent, plugged,and counterfeit coins and the ease with which spurious specimens can bediscarded before entering the machine are greatly enhanced, as both thesenses of sight and touch are brought into play by the skilled operatorand the danger of such coins or pieces being counted and assembled withgood coins is reduced to a minimum, if not, in fact, made impossible.

In the present invention we have devised means by which we are enabledto use the important inspection or distributing table in connection withan assorting mechanism, whereby the miscellaneous coins placed in theassorter may be asserted and then deposited upon the table in segregatedmasses and then. each or any denomination passed into machine, each coinbeing separately handled and inspected, as before explained, to becounted and, if desired, assembled in a coin-column for wrapping.

Our invention consists, broadly, of a distributing or inspection tableor surface interposed between an assorting mechanism. and the conductorof a counting-machine and having provision for receiving the coins insegregated masses.

Our invention further consists ofa machine having in combination anassorting mechanism and a tabular surface upon which the formerdischarges its coins in segregated masses.

The invention also consists of a machine of the character describedhaving in combination a coin-assorting mechanism, the coinconductor of acoin-counting mechanism, and a tabular surface intermediate of the twoand having provision for segregating the coins of the same sizedistributed from the assorting mechanism.

The invention further consists of a coin table having its surfacedivided into separate divisions or compartments each adapted to receivesegregated coins of the same size and allow the same to be separatelyinspected.

The invention also consists of a coin-assorting mechanism in combinationwith a divided table, with each division thereof communicating with adischarge from the assorter and adapted to segregate the coins in massesof coins of the same size and a coinconductor of a counter communicatingwith each of the divisions of the table.

The invention further consists of the combination of a dividedcoin-inspection table, of a stepped gagebar, beneath which the coins ofeach division of the table are caused to pass before entering thecounting-machine.

The invention also consists'of the assorting mechanism and the parts andconstructions and combinations of parts, which we will hereinafterdescribe and claim.

In the accompanying drawings, forming art of this specification, and inwhich simi ar reference characters indicate like parts throughout theseveral views, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a coin-handling machineembodying a type of our invention. Fig. 2 is a modification showing aportion of a divided table with the divisions thereof communicating withindependent distributing chutes or conductors. Fig. 3 is across-sectional view on the line :0 a; of the assorter of Fig. 1. Fig. 4is a modification to be referred to.

In carrying out our invention we wish it to be understood that we mayuse in connection with our divided or compartment inspection-table anyof the well-known and any appropriate forms of assorting mechanism, andwhile we herein show and describe a particular form of assorter we donot restrict the invention thereto, as we consider that our invention isof sufficient scope to include any means by which miscellaneous coinsmay be assorted and then delivered through separate discharges to theseveral divisions of the table. e also do not limit the use of the tableto any particular character of counting-machine, as it is capable of usewith a counting-machine whose parts are adjustable to receive andoperate upon coins of different sizes and where the machine may bechanged to receive and successfully count all coins of the same size ofany denomination. This table may also be used with a series of machmeseach of which has 1 its conductor adapted to receive the coins containedin one of the divisions of the table.

The type of novel assorting mechanism here shown for illustrativepurposes is of a vibratory character. It is capable of endwise movementby any of the well-known meansas, for example, the suspending links10and it may be given a reciprocating or equivalent movement. by anysuitable meansas, for instance, the devices shown, which include a linkor connection 11 and a crank or equivalent driving means, as at 12. Thereceiving-hopper A may also be of any suitable character, and it may bestationary relative to the assorter proper. The assorter (shown inFig. 1) includes an appropriate frame B, with a bottom and sides, andsaid frame may be set at such inclination that the coins will slide overthe surface of the bottom to the appropriate points of discharge. Thisbottom may be straight or in the same plane throughout, Fig. 4, or, asshown, it may be formed with steps, as at 13, with the tabular surfacesbetween the steps provided with one or more rows of openings 14 of suchsize as to permit coins of certain sizes to pass through the same. Theopenings are graded in such succession that those at the upper or headend of the assorter are designed to receive and separate the smallestcoinssay dimeswhile offering no obstruction to the passage of coins oflarger size, which arrangement is carried out on the several steppedportions or divisions of the assorting-surface. Therefore there is agrading of the coins or a separation of the smaller coins from thelarger during the travel of the coins over the grading-surface of theassorter. If desired, the coins of greatest sizesay the half dollarsn1aypass over the tail end of the machine. As the coins pass from onedivision of the assorting-surface to the next division thereof they aretipped by passing over the stepped portions, and if one coin should belying on another when they reach a stepped portion the tipping of thecoins in falling from one surface to another will result in separatingsuch coins to preserve the individual travel of each over the succeedingsurface, which action is facilitated by the vibratory motion which isgiven the assorter. The coins which escape through the several openingsof the assorter enter a hopper-like structure 15 below the same orequivalent means, by which the assorted coins are delivered upon theflat sur face of the table D. This table may be of the general characterof the one shown, described, and claimed in Patent No. 751,246, grantedto Charles S. Batdorf, one of the parties hereto, on the 2d day ofFebruary, 1904, and upon which table the coins are separately inspectedand handled as they are fed therefrom by hand or otherwise into theconductor which leads to the counting-machine.

This table, however, in the present instance (and it may denote any formof tabular receiving-surface) has its surface divided into separatecompartments or channels by means of division-strips or partitions 16,and one of the hopper-like structures is designed to deliver its coinsinto or upon one of the compartments or divisions of the table separateand distinct from the coins of a different size and denomination. Thusthe mass of miscellaneous coins placed in the hopper and separated andgraded according to size are delivered and collected upon the table insegregated groups or masses ready for a suceeedii'rg or subsequentmanipulation and in full view and within the control of the operator. Inthis separated condition the coins of any one of the groups may behandled and separately inspected for impaired or counterfeit specimensand for dummies and then swept over the tabular surface into the receiving end of the conductor C, which leads to or is a part of thecountinganachine (not shown) and which conductor is so placed relativeto the point of discharge from the table that the coins swept off thelatter will enter the conductor and proceed e11 their way to thecounting devices, and which latter may be of any appropriatecharactersuch,

for instance, as are shown and described in detail in the Batdorfpatent, No. 751,246, before alluded to. I

In another application, Serial N 0. 188,689, by Charles S. Batdorf,filed January 12, 1904, there is disclosed a mechanism whereby thecoin-conducting means of the machine is capable of such adjustment thatthe single machine may be set to accurately operate upon coins of alldenominations, by which is meant that the machine may be set for, say,half-dollars and then be adjusted to receive all coins of anotherdenomination and different size, and which adjustments provide for thecorrect handling of all coins of the same size from the largest and toand including the smallest coins. IVith such an adjustable machine adivided table is of great value, because the miscellaneous coins havingbeen assorted and the coins eollected in segregated groups the machinemay be set for the coins of one group, and when the supply is exhaustedthe machine may be set for the coins of another group, thereby enablingus to count the different groups in succession and during substantiallya sin le continuous run of the machine, thereby 'aeilitating the rapidhandling of the coin. At the same time the coins of each group have beenseparately handled and inspected by the operator, and if any mutilated,counterfeit, or irregular coins have been included in the miscellaneousmass put into the hopper of the assorter they are instantly detected anddiscarded. The coins as they are delivered from the table pass under agage-bar E, the under surface of which is disposed above the surface ofthe table a distance equivalent to the thickness of a true coin of thedenomination that is contained in the corresponding division of thetable, whereby any bent coins in the group will be held back from thecoinconductor, which is desirable when the coins are to be wrapped topreserve the evenness of the wrapped package. The gage-bar may be acontinuous one, extending across each of the divisions of the table, inwhich event its under surface will be stepped to respond to thedifferent thicknesses of coins of the several groups.

If desired, the single conductor before described may be substituted bya number of independent conductors F, each designed to connect with oneof the divisions of the table and each leading to its own individualcounting mechanism, which arrangement may be desirable when a series ofindependent counting-machines for handling coins of different sizes areused.

In Fig. 1 the assorter B is represented as having a straight andunbroken surface set at an incline and over which the coins slide asthey are delivered from the hopper A. This asserting-surface has thegraded openings arranged in succession, and each group of openingsdeposits the graded coins into its appropriate hopper 15 for deliveryinto a divlsion of the inspection-table.

The operation of the machine will be readily understood from theforegoing, and it will be apparent that a mass of miscellaneous coinsassociated with defective coins, dummies, or worthless pieces may beseparated each. from the other in graded groups and then placed uponaninspection-table, where the improper specimens can readily be detectedand discarded before they can enter the counting-machine. It will alsobe apparent that the grading operation may be performed coordinatelywith the counting operation, thereby saving time in handling the coins.

As the present improvements relate to the inspection-table and itscombination with an assorter and the placing of the table between theinlet to the counting-111achine and the assorter and said invention hasno reference to any particular counting mechanism, we have not deemed itnecessary to illustrate the counting mechanism, but to show only theconductor leading thereto, by which term conductor we mean any conduit,runway, or other channel or passage along which the coins pass on theirway to the counting devices.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters. Patent, is-

1. A machine of the character described having in combination anasserting mechanism, a tabular surface upon which the coins areassembled in. segregated. groups, and the coin-conductor of acounting-machine communicating with said tabular surface.

2. A machine of the character described having in combination means forassorting coins, a tabular surface communicating with the assortingmeans for collecting the coins in segregated and exposed groups, and theconductor of a coin-counting machine in open communication with the saidsurface.

3. A machine of the character described having in combination means forassorting coins, the conductor of a coin-counting machine, and a tabularsurface intermediate of the assorter and conductor and communicatingwith both.

4. A machine of the character described having in combination means forassorting coins, an inclined conductor of a countingmachine, and atabular surface between the assorting means and conductor and upon whichcoins are collected in segregated and exposed groups containing coins ofthe same size said surface having one portion connecting directly withthe entrance to the conductor.

5. A machine for handling coins having in combination means forassorting coins, a coinconducting means, and a divided inspectiontableupon which the assorted coins are delivered in segregated groups, saidtable having a portion in open communication with the entrance to theconductor whereby the coins may be delivered directly thereto.

6. A machine for handling coins having in combination a dividedcoin-inspection table, a coin-conductor communicating therewith, and acoin assorter having a perforated stepped surface and chutescommunicating with the divisions of the table.

7. In a machine for handling coins an inspection table having divisionsin which coins are collected in segregated groups, in combination with agage-bar having its under surface stepped to correspond to the different thicknesses of coins contained in said divisions. p

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of thesubscribing witnesses.

CHARLES S. BATDORF. THOMAS VVALTER- FOXVLER.

WVitnesses as to Charles S. Batdorf:

J. W. BATDORF, N. V. FALLow.

\Vitnesses as to Thomas lValter Fowler:

C. W. FOWLER, HOWELL BARTLE.

